Citizenship of the agricultural transfer population and property income--empirical evidence from the Chinese region

In urbanization, achieving common prosperity is a common complication faced by human society in the process of development. The citizenship of the agricultural transfer population (CRM) is a vital urbanization goal in developing countries. However, there is rare empirical evidence on the citizenship of agricultural migrants and property income. The relaxation of household registration restrictions and property policy changes under China's new urbanization plan provide crucial material for the test of their causal effects. The results of this study suggest that the citizenship of the agricultural transfer population can be divided into two stages: identity conversion and service sharing. Both the initial household registration conversion and the later service sharing are conducive to the growth of property income of the residents who have switched from agriculture to non-agriculture. Besides, the increase in transfer length of the “rural-to-non-native” residents further strengthens the positive effect of service parity on property income. This implies that governments and relevant authorities in developing countries should emphasize the construction of a policy system for equalizing basic public services to facilitate the reduction of income disparity while stimulating economic growth. Additionally, the mechanism analysis reveals that the underlying logic of the citizenship of agricultural migrants lies in the ability to enrich total property, adjust asset allocation behavior, reinforce the efficiency of financial asset allocation, and achieve an increase in property income. The quantitative results of this study provide effective information for future sustainable urban development, especially for rational urbanization in developing countries.